Posts Tagged ‘How to Make Sausage’

Almost all homemade sausage recipes call for your sausage to be stuffed into a sausage casing. If you’re not sure as to what kind of sausage casing to use for your homemade sausage you can to the right place. There are different types of sausage casings you can use and the type of homemade sausage you are making will help to determine what kind of sausage casing you are going to need to use for it.

Natural Sausage Casings

Natural casings
are by far the most popular choice when it comes to casings for the home sausage maker. They are referred to as natural because they are derived from the intestines of hogs, sheep, and cattle.

Natural casings come in different sizes. The most common being hog casings. These are the casing that you would use for homemade Italian sausage, kielbasa, bratwurst, or any other homemade sausage that you would like to be that size around in diameter. If your looking for a smaller size sausage casing you would choose sheep casings. These casings are smaller in diameter than that of hog casings and are commonly used for making breakfast links and snack sticks. The largest of all of the natural sausage casings are beef casings. You would use beef casings if you are making summer sausage or ring bologna.

Most of the time you will need to order your natural casings online. They are sold in packs for making a certain amount of sausage in pounds. Make sure you order enough so you have plenty to finish your homemade sausage. Any extra can be stored for future use in the fridge.

Collagen Sausage Casings

Collagen casings are an edible casing made from cattle by products. The advantage to using collagen casings is the consistent size, unlike that of the natural casings.

The most popular application for collagen casings is for making smoked snack sticks, they are perfect for that. You can also find collagen casings in larger sizes for making sausages with a larger diameter.

One thing to keep in mind when using collagen casings is they are not as strong as natural casings. With the collagen casings being more tender they tend to break if hung in the smoker. If you plan on smoking your homemade sausage look for extra thick collagen casings that are designed for smoking. Just ask your supplier, most will carry the thicker collagen casings.

Fibrous Sausage Casings

Fibrous casings are made from paper and have a protein coating on the inside. As the case with all synthetic casings, fibrous casings are not edible.

Fibrous casings come in many different sizes and colors. Because they are so tough fibrous casings are very easy to stuff. The most common sausages made with fibrous casings are summer sausage and salami.

The most important thing to remember when using fibrous casings is that they are not edible. Any homemade sausage that you make with fibrous casings most have the paper peeled off before you eat them.

As you can see there are many different types of sausage casings for one to choose from. Although natural casings are the most popular choice, don’t be afraid to give some of the other casings a try.

Do you love seafood? Just can’t get enough fish? Have saltwater in your veins? Well do I have something special for you. An easy to make homemade seafood sausage that will knock your socks off.

Most of the time when you think of homemade sausage, the last thing that comes to mind is seafood. Well the fact is that you can make homemade sausage out of just about any type of meat. The key to making the meat into a delicious homemade sausage is to blend it with the right ingredients that complement the flavor and not overpower the meat.

In this recipe for homemade seafood sausage you will have the opportunity to use whatever fish you would like. You can experiment with different types of fish that are fresh at the time or the fish that you just caught.

Now that you have your fish. Let’s get ready to make some homemade seafood sausage.

Homemade Seafood Sausage Recipe

1 1/2 lb Fish of Your Choice

1 cup Chopped Scallops

1 cup Chopped Shrimp

1 cup Heavy Cream

1/2 Stick Unsalted Butter

2 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

3 Egg Whites

1/2 cup Chopped Parsley

2 tsp Rosemary

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

2 tsp Chopped Green Onion

1/2 cup White Wine

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl together. Take the fish and grind in your food processor. As you grind your fish add the egg and the heavy cream along with the butter. Add the dry ingredients to the fish mixture and mix together well. Place the mixture in the fridge to cool. Once the sausage mixture has had time to cool you can stuff your homemade seafood sausage into hog or sheep casings.

I think you will find this homemade seafood sausage easy and fun to make. I know your whole family will fall in love with it as well – hook, line, and sinker.

Here’s a great recipe for spicy homemade turkey italian sausage. If you’re looking for a way to cut back on your calorie intake but still would like to enjoy outstanding homemade sausage this is the recipe for you.

One of the things that you need to remember when making homemade turkey sausage is that turkey is naturally leaner than most of the other meats that you would make homemade sausage out of. With this being the case you need to make sure that you not only use the white meat, but the dark meat as well. This will help to insure that your homemade turkey sausage doesn’t turn out dry. The best way to make sure you are getting the highest quality turkey for your homemade sausage you should purchase a fresh or frozen turkey from the grocery store or your local butcher. All you need to do with the turkey is debone it and grind it up for your homemade sausage.

If you keep these few things in mind there is no reason why you can’t make high quality mouth watering homemade turkey sausage in your own kitchen for your family to enjoy.

Homemade Spicy Turkey Italian Sausage

5 lb Ground Turkey

4 tsp Fennel Seed

2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper

2 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Cropped Garlic

2 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

(for a non-spicy version leave out the crushed red pepper)

To make your homemade spicy turkey sausage you need to do is mix together all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl. After you grind your turkey mix together with the dry ingredients. Once they are well mixed, place the sausage mixture in the fridge to cool off. In a few hours, take the sausage mix out of the fridge and stuff into hog casings. All you need to do now is link your homemade turkey sausage and prepare to have some of the best turkey sausage ever. These homemade turkey sausage links are great on the grill or slow cooked in your homemade spaghetti sauce, or even sliced on top of pizza, the possibilities are endless. I hope you enjoyed this recipe for homemade spicy turkey italian sausage. Please be sure to check out some of our other recipes for great homemade sausage.

It just doesn’t get much more basic than good old italian sausage. Italian sausage is usually the first sausage the home sausage maker attempts to make. After mastering italian sausage don’t be surprised to find that it becomes your go to sausage that you use all the time.

When it comes to making hot italian sausage the only difference between hot and mild italian sausage is the addition of red pepper flakes. You can add as much as you like according to taste. But remember, just because you like it really hot, the other people might not have the same taste.

Hot Italian Sausage Recipe

5 lb Pork Butt Ground

5 tsp Fennel Seed

5 tsp Cracked Black Pepper

4 tsp Sea Salt

2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the dry ingredient mixture to your ground pork. Mix together and place in the fridge to cool. After your sausage mix has had time to cool you can stuff into hog casings or leave it as is for bulk sausage.

Now that you have made your own homemade hot italian sausage, fire up the grill and enjoy them with your family and friends. I hope you found this recipe for homemade hot italian sausage useful and easy to make.

Linguica sausage is a Portuguesesausage that is seasoned with garlic and paprika. Making your own homemade linguica can be quick and easy. All you need is some fresh pork and a few simple ingredients. As with all homemade sausages the key to making good linguica is making sure you select quality meat to make your sausage with. You can use ground pork from your local grocery store or you can purchase pork shoulder butt and grind it yourself. Now that you have the right meat for making linguica sausage, lets get down to business. Here is the list of ingredients.

(This recipe is for fresh linguica, not cured. We use liquid smoke to simulate the taste of the linguica being cured and smoked.)

Homemade Linguica Sausage

5 lb Fresh Ground Pork

3 tbsp Paprika

2 tbsp Chopped Garlic

5 tsp Sea Salt

1 tbsp Liquid Smoke

1 tbsp Sugar

1/2 cup Red Wine

3 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Combine all of the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add all of the dry ingredients to your gound pork along with the red wine and liquid smoke. Mix all of the sausage ingredients together and place in the fridge to get cool. After the linguica has had time to cool, it’s time to stuff. Stuff your homemade linguica into hog casings, link them, and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for homemade linguica sausage as much as I do. Good luck and happy sausage making.

Have you ever thought to yourself, I would love to start making my own homemade sausage, but you just didn’t know where to start? With all of the different sausage making items on the market it can get confusing to know what items you really need, and what items are more for convenience or a special purpose. To help make entering the home sausage making hobby a little easier, here at Homemade-Sausage.net, we have compiled a list of the most important items you need to have to make great homemade sausage. The items are listed from the least important and optional items to the most important and essential items needed for sausage making. Now let’s get started.

10) Meat Smoker

A good meat smoker is a great addition to your sausage making arsenal, but is not an essential item for sausage making. You will find most of your sausage recipes are for fresh sausage and not smoked. When you first start making sausage focus on fresh sausage before attempting smoked sausage. After you have been making sausage for awhile you might look into investing in a good quality smoker. It’s a good investment that you will use for not only sausage making.

9) Meat Cure

Meat curing is the process by which meat is preserved with a concentration of salt. Meat cure is used if you are going to make smoked sausage. After you become a more seasoned sausage maker, you can start curing sausage and making smoked sausage. For the beginner I recommend you become more familiar with making fresh sausage before diving into smoked sausage.

8 ) Vacuum Sealer

You don’t need a vacuum sealer, but it sure does come in handy. After spending the whole day making sausage, it’s nice to know you have a good way to preserve your homemade sausage for future use. A good vacuum sealer has many uses other than for sausage making. Once you have your essentials for sausage making, look into getting a vacuum sealer, you’ll love how handy they are.

7) Sharp Knives

How are you going to cut the meat and chop the fresh herbs for your homemade sausage without a good knife? You don’t know the importance of a sharp knife until you’re trying to cut meat for your sausage with a dull knife. Having a set of good knives in your kitchen is a great investment that you will enjoy for years to come.

6) Kitchen Scale

How are you going to know how much seasoning to add to your sausage mix if you don’t know how much it weighs? If you’re buying your meat already ground a kitchen scale is not as important, but if you are grinding your own meat for your homemade sausage a scale is invaluable. You don’t need anything fancy, just a basic kitchen scale will do the trick.

5) Sausage Casings

Now we’re getting into the essential items for sausage making. Although you don’t need to have casings to make great homemade sausage, it is required if you want your sausage to look and taste like traditional sausage. There are primarily two types of sausage casings, natural and artificial. The choice of casings is up to the user, but if you’re looking for the most traditional sausage we recommend natural casings.

4) Sausage Stuffer

Once you have your homemade sausage all mixed together and your casings are ready to go, your’re going to need a sausage stuffer to get your sausage into the casings. This can be a dedicated stand alone stuffer, a stuffing tube for your grinder, or an attachment for your stand mixer. No matter what you choose you need to have one to make your best homemade sausage.

3) Meat Grinder

Sure you can go to the grocery store and pick up some ground pork or beef and use that for your homemade sausage, or if you want to know the quality of the meat you are using for your sausage you’ll need to grind it yourself. When it comes to sausage making, the grinder is the single most important piece of equipment you can purchase. Without a grinder you are at the mercy of the grocery store. Once you purchase your own grinder your sausage making options are endless.

2) Spices and Seasonings

The next time you go to the grocery store look at the back of the package of sausage. I guarantee you can’t pronounce some of the words in the ingredients list. Wouldn’t you like to be able to know exactly what is in your sausage? Your homemade sausage will consist of just naturalspices and fresh ground meat, unless you purchase a premix sausage seasoning. Check the label, most premixes contain artificial ingredients. The best way is to pick a recipe or a natural sausage seasoning and get started making great homemade sausage.

1) And the number one most important item for making homemade sausage is: THE MEAT

Bar none the meat that you choose is the most important item on the list. You can get away without most of the other items on this list, but if you start with a low quality meat all of the the best high tech equipment won’t save your sausage. Choose fresh meat from a store you trust. Look at the meat and see if it has a good marbling of fat running through the meat. If the meat is too lean it will make for a dry and less flavorful sausage. If you don’t have your own grinder have the store grind it for you. Just remember one thing – Your sausage is only as good as the quality of the meat it’s made from.

So there it is the Top 10 Most Important Items for Making Homemade Sausage. I hope you found this list helpful, and it makes your journey into the world of sausage making a little easier.

If you love sausage, I mean really love homemade sausage, you most definitely came to the right place. Store bought sausage, although they can be quite tasty, do not even come close to the quality and flavour of homemade sausage.

Learning to make your own sausage doesn’t need to be a scary or difficult task to take on. Once you get started you will find it is much easier than you probably thought.In a short amount of time you will impress your friends and family with your sausage making skills. When you make your own homemade sausage you get to make your way, with your own ingredients. The next time you go out shopping take a look at that package of store bought sausage, now look at the label, I know you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients on the list. How can that be good for you? Not only are store bought sausages full of preservatives, you also do not know the quality of the meat the sausage was produced with. When you make your own homemade sausage you control the whole process from start to finish.

Now that you know the benefitsyou gain from making your own homemade sausage, let us look at some of the basic items you need to get started. When it comes to meat the options are endless. You can use anything from wild game to store bought ground pork. You can choose to buy the meat already ground from the grocery store or you can grind your own. Both options are perfectly acceptable, but you just get a great feeling of accomplishment when you grind your own meat for your sausage. If you decide to grind your own meat at home you will need to choose a meat grinder. Once you have the grinder you can add a stuffing tube to the grinder or you can purchase a stand alone sausage stuffer. Both work just fine but if you plan on making a large amount of sausage, or you are going to be making it often a sausage stuffer will make life much easier. You will also need casings to stuff your sausage. You can use natural or synthetic it’s up to you. And don’t forget the seasonings. This is where you get to put your own personal stamp on it to make it YOUR SAUSAGE.

With these basic materials you will be on your way to making your homemade sausage. It doesn’t matter if your trying to make bratwurst, kielbasa, or country sausage for that special breakfast, you can become a sausage expert in no time. Just use Homemade-Sausage.net as a resource to start you travel down the road to making the ultimate homemade sausage. With the help that you will find here, you can begin your sausage making journey with confidence and enjoy making your own homemade sausage right out of the gates. Check out the sausage recipes section to help get you started. Be sure to check back often for updates, or if you run into trouble with your sausage making, we can help fix it. Thank you for stopping by, and happy sausage making.

Follow this recipe to make the polish favorite. Mix all of the seasonings together and add them to your ground pork. Using the stuffing tube attachment for your meat grinder or a stand alone sausage stuffer, stuff the kielbasa mixture into natual hog casings. After you finish suffing your homemade kielbasa sausage you’re ready to cook them. Any of the homemade sausages that you don’t cook after making, you can freeze so you can enjoy your homemade kielbasa later. Making this homemade sausage is fun, easy, and most important this kielbasa is delicious!